Council's website refers to penalty charge as 'parking FINE' - is this ticket valid?

[seylectric]

Of course it is illegal to refer to a penalty charge as an catual parking fine, because technically it's not a fine. The ticket itself is worded correctly (the council had to change their illegally worded tickets a while back).

 

But on the local council's website, it states:

 

"Pay your parking fine online. you will need your PCN number and a valid email address to complete online."

 

Their automated telephone payment line also refers to it as a "fine". So given that they are asking me to pay a fine when in fact it isn't, does this render the charge invalid?

[Michael Browne]

I would imagine it's the wording on the PCN that counts in law and that however it is described on a website has no bearing. You could ask them to change it on the basis it could be misleading, but I don't see that it would make a pcn invalid

[seylectric]

That's the answer I expected to be honest, however they are basically asking (or 'inviting') me to pay a fine and I haven't been fined. In this sense I feel the wording on their website and indeed their phone lines mean that they are referring to this as a fine and therefore implying I have to pay a fine when I don't because it isn't a fine.

[Michael Browne]

As it happens my own Coucil website mentions fines too in their FAQ's as in 'How do I pay my fine ' and 'What happens if I don't pay my fine', but I don't imagine an adjudicator or a judge would attach any weight to that.

[pt2537]

Absolutely Michael

 

It wouldnt carry any weight at all IMHO

seylectric,

can you post a copy of the ticket, there are quite a few things which can make a ticket invalid

[green_and_mean]

Fines can be criminal or civil so its not technically wrong to call a Penalty charge a fine.